I have finally fitted my donor Executives leather interior into my GLX, but while the donor has been sat around for a while the seats and door cards have gone a bit grubby ( oil, mould, dirt from tools etc.. )

What would be the best thing to clean it with? I have Gliptone already as a finishing coat, but I need to scrub the seats first.

Hot soapy water? Steam cleaning? Flash?

Please let me know what has been tried - did it work? What should I 'NOT' use..?

Babywipes, can't beat them for general cleaning. If you want to get really technical you need to avoid Pampers and unbranded ones because they're too flimsy and bunch up too easily when you're trying to give your leather a good scrub. What you really need is the Huggies brand, they're much stronger. The plain ones are my chosen weapon but the ones with the moisturiser in certainly don't hurt.

I've also got Autoglym Leather Cleaner and Autoglym Leather Care cream but rarely feel the need to use them.

Guys, please don't use baby wipes unless you've exhausted all other safe methods of leather cleaning. It has chemicals in it that are very damaging to leather, and in the long term will do more harm than good.

Use a dedicated leather cleaner, I've personally only ever used Dr. Leather wipes or APC at 10:1 if the leather is really dirty. Leather conditioners are also useless for automotive leather as modern seats are clearcoated, so any "conditioner" is just a greasy top film which won't be doing anything to help.

The guy who originally put me on to baby wipes was a vehicle upholsterer so he knew his stuff, and I only ever use the "pure" ones, no chemicals at all. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps they're saying that the wipes themselves are abrasive and are wearing away the surface of the leather?

DaiRees wrote:The guy who originally put me on to baby wipes was a vehicle upholsterer so he knew his stuff, and I only ever use the "pure" ones, no chemicals at all. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps they're saying that the wipes themselves are abrasive and are wearing away the surface of the leather?

That's good to know, I assume it must be vigorous scrubbing with cheaper abrasive ones then? Thought it was wise to post up a warning though as LTT have always given me excellent advice.

Leather interiors in cars (and modern leather furniture in general) need slightly different approaches than old-fashioned leather, such as on saddles or shoes or older furniture. Modern leather is painted and then coated with a PU topcoat. Products cannot penetrate this plastic barrier, so you can't really 'feed' the leather, and using beeswax or similar is an exercise in obtaining extremely slippery seats

The only thing you really can do is protect the leather from physical and UV damage, to keep it from cracking and fading and wearing out. You can't really rejuvenate it effectively.

I've been using products from The Furniture Clinic for years, both for cleaning and care, but also for fixing nicks and cuts and scratches. Their filler and color products work amazingly well, the areas I've repaired using them are impossible to tell from the intact areas.

For cleaning and care, they sell this kit: http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Care_Kit.php. It works for leather both with and without PU topcoats. On 'bare' leather it feeds the leather effectively and also makes the leather water resistant, which should help it last longer. On PU-coated leather it "only" adds a layer of protection, but one that seems to be quite effective.

It works extremely well when used as directed (use the leather cream very sparingly, only a thin coat is needed), and makes the leather smell very nice again.

Lately I've been trying out the leather care package that Ikea sells (because it's significantly less expensive), and that also seems to work really well.

Pretty much echoing what FailTail said.
I use APC 10:1 with a leather brush (The ones you buy for leather shoes are fine). Sometimes it helps to warm the leather and APC up prior to cleaning.
No conditioners required. They just add oils on top of the leather which attract dirt and fine grit which polishes the leather when you sit on the seat and cause it to go shiny.